


Unfinished Business

by dagonst



Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Thor: The Dark World
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-31
Updated: 2014-01-31
Packaged: 2018-01-10 17:04:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1162287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dagonst/pseuds/dagonst
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set after Thor: Dark World.  Thor is invited back to Asgard.  The Avengers tag along, and Jane's scientific inquiries create unexpected complications.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

When the invitation to return to Asgard came, Thor had been wary - not that his own heart would change, but of Odin’s plans. There likely would be more to it than a feast. Some matter of diplomacy, some show to be made for the other realms. He feared some plan that would keep him from his chosen home.

Jane agreed to return with him, though, and that eased his mind. And then matters had gotten away from him. When he told the Avengers of his departure, Tony Stark said, “wait, you’re having a birthday party without us?” and he had no good answer but to invite them all. 

He has no idea when Darcy Lewis joined the company.

They are gathering for departure before he learns that Clint Barton does not mean to join them. He finds the archer testing his skills on Stark’s mechanical targets. “The Lady Natasha says you will not join us, my friend. Your skill with the bow would be much admired in Asgard - you would be most welcome.”

Barton does not turn from his practice, but between one arrow and the next, says only, “Loki.” Thor watches both strike true, and sighs. 

“Loki is dead; he can do no further harm to you or anyone.” 

Barton grimaces. “Yeah. Still.” That seems to be the end of it, and Thor turns to leave. “Bring them back home.”

He turns back to find the archer watching him, tense even after he swears to the band’s safe return.

* * *

There are rooms in the palace often given to disfavored delegations - ill-lit, or damp, or otherwise unfortunate. Thor has made excuses to see his friends’ chambers, and they have been given none of these. Tony Stark’s rooms have an excellent set of tall windows with a view of the city, the closest the palace has to his own tower in New York. Sif and the Warriors Three greeted them on the Bifrost and provided escort to the palace. There has been no more unfortunate talk of goats. 

Jane wishes to find the cavern that was Loki’s narrow path between the worlds, and brought tools from Midgard to locate and measure it. They meant to go as soon as they were settled, but a tournament had been arranged, a several-days’ affair. And then, his father had wished him to see the progress of repairs from the dark elves’ attack, so in three days they have not made the expedition.

Nor has he spoken with his father alone - that at least he remedies, late on the third day. They speak first of simple matters, the business of the realms, the city’s rebuilding. In truth, the repairs are not as far along as Thor would wish. In two years, Asgard had rebuilt the entire Bifrost. And while that was far more urgent, still it made little sense to dawdle over defensive systems that had proven their value.

“They proved useless in the end,” Odin reminds him. “Else they would not be broken now.”

“It looks like weakness. Asgard’s enemies will take courage from that.”

Odin appears to consider. “The realms that have the power have no interest in disrupting the peace; those who would like to see us brought low lack the strength to accomplish it. Who, then, is to make such an attack?”

“I know not,” Thor confesses. “And of course you have given it more thought than I. And since we are not to be attacked, Father, I mean to take Jane to the cliffs tomorrow. She wishes to examine Loki’s path between the worlds, and thinks it of use to her science.”

“Jane Foster,” Odin says with a twist of his mouth. He has been nothing but polite, but of course diplomacy is not the same as agreement. “And you will be ruled by the mortal woman’s wishes.”

“Yes, I will.” Thor says, as plainly as he can. “I do not see that her desires could cause harm. Have you some reason to delay this journey longer?” Odin looks at him long enough to make him uneasy. 

“There is another matter,” he hurries to say before Odin can forbid it. This was one of Loki’s tricks, to ask for something unlikely and something impossible in the same breath. Thor has not his brother’s gifts, and suspects he is entirely transparent. At least he can guess which request his father will like least. “I would have a stone raised for Loki. As they do on Midgard to remember their dead.” 

“As many mortals as you have brought here, Thor, this is not Midgard.” 

“Loki died far from here, with no ceremony. He died believing he had no place here. It is a small thing -” 

“You have not come to ask permission for these things; you have come to tell me you will do them.”

“You are king of Asgard, Father - it would be difficult to raise a monument, without your leave.”

“But your woman’s whims.”

“Jane’s quest, aye. That I mean to do.” He would not defy all Asgard to take her; but neither will Odin order her captured and confined to stop him. 

Odin looks into the distance, and Thor shifts with nerves in case the King may yet see some reason against his wishes. “Go hunting, then. I give you leave to go tomorrow, that will be the best day for it. Take your Avengers as well.”

“You have my gratitude - and hers,” Thor tells him. “And the other?”

Odin stands. “While I live and am king in Asgard, there will be no monument here to Loki Laufeyson. And you would be a fool to raise one after.” 

“His crimes were not so great that his death did not redeem them,” Thor says. “I will ask again.”

“It is not redemption to prefer death to a life in chains. You will have preparations to make; as do I. Good night, Thor.” Thor stands as well - the dismissal is not unkind, but final for all that.

“Good night, Father,” he says, and leaves him.


	2. Chapter 2

They take a boat, bigger than the one that had gone to Svartalfheim, because now there are the Avengers, and Darcy, and a number of boxes Jane says are quite necessary. Sif helps to load the crates and sees them off, with one last warning about Loki and his magics.

“Come yourself,” he calls to her, but she makes a rude gesture and waves them off. 

“Asgardian women, huh,” Tony Stark says. 

“Sif is the exception,” Thor reminds him. 

Traveling by water, with no pursuit, the cliffs are nearly a half-day away. Stark, Banner, and Jane speak much of the great puzzle that Asgard’s seas are to them. Thor only listens: they would not like to hear how simple it is: that an endless spring provides the water, and the fish have the sense not to swim over the edge. Or they would ply him for details of the magics with questions that might stump even his mother. One conversation with Tony Stark about Mjolnir had been enough to cure Thor of trying to explain things to the scientists of Midgard.

They anchor at the foot of the cliff, well clear of the rocks. Stark suggests eating ‘up top’, so the two of them ferry their friends and the hampers of food to the top of the cliff, to eat on dry land. The city gates can still be seen in the distance.

Then Jane wishes to search for the cave. Captain Rogers proposes a walk along the cliff’s edge. 

Darcy looks at Jane. “Is there going to be a boring part here? Because all the equipment is down there, and you can get me from wherever, right?” So she goes walking as well. 

Thor remembers Loki’s passage as little more than a crack in the face of the cliff, with no proper floor. The cave where Jane’s device finds ‘unusual quantum activity’ at the entrance seems different - a proper room with a floor and walls. All the walls, in fact. 

“This is not Loki’s passage,” he says, pointing at the solid rock at the back. 

“Okay, I’m going to need crate two up here to be sure, but I think… that wall isn’t actually there? Look, watch me -”

Thor watches her hit the wall and look dismayed. “Perhaps we did not go far enough to the west,” he says. We can look for one with less solid stone.” He pats the wall, and his hand goes through as though it were only water.

“Hah!” Jane says, and puts her hand above his - and hers stops at the wall, as before. 

He looks at their hands, and thinks of his father’s unvoiced misgivings. “I will be but a moment,” Thor says, and Jane says “wait, maybe -” but by then he’s already two steps forward and looking at - Odin. 

“- Thor, Thor? Can you hear me? Shit!”

He circles the shielded bed, which is no more than stone. It is unmistakably the Odinsleep, but -- Thor has a sudden suspicion and touches the wall again. But as before, it yields to him, and he is with Jane again. 

“Thor! What’s back there?”

Thor remembers to breathe. “My brother’s work.” The mouth of the cave is already darkening, and he walks out to a crack of thunder. He does not care; he would have Loki know he is coming. 

“What happened, what - “

“The King. Odin lies there, asleep. We must return him home. And I must deal with Loki.”

And after Loki is locked away again, he realizes, his father will sleep still. And there will be no-one left to be king of Asgard.


	3. Chapter 3

The King stands, and orders the room cleared. Thor stares at him while his advisers file out, until they are alone. Or, nearly - Captain Rogers had insisted he not confront Loki without them, and Jane had agreed, so he stands flanked by the Captain and the Man of Iron. “Loki.”

“Thor,” Odin replies. Continues, “Loki is dead,” but as he says it his form wavers, shifts, and it is Loki speaking those words, Loki smiling down at him. “Best that he remains so.”

Thor manages a breath, steps forward. “I should kill you where you stand. _Usurper._ Why this mockery of - of -” Of everything. Loki had _died_ , had redeemed himself and been at peace. And now he’s smirking down at Thor, laughing at the cruelest trick he has ever played.

“I had no wish to return to a cell, Thor. I have no desire to pay for the crimes I am accused of. Why _not?_ ”

“What you have done to Father -”

“ _Your_ father sleeps undisturbed. Despite your efforts to wake him, I suppose. Or, is he waiting for the way to be cleared? Is the great Odin too weak to reclaim his own throne?”

“He sleeps,” Thor says shortly. “It was you who gave me leave to return to Midgard. Why did you not say then -”

“Told you that Father fell into the Odinsleep suddenly, with no-one else by? I did not care to be called a liar. And I wanted to be king.”

Iron Man, at Thor’s side, raises his hand, the repulsor glowing in the palm. “Sorry to interrupt, but why are we here?” Thor had nearly forgotten they were. He had expected nothing else, but there was still a shock in seeing Loki again. 

“Folly. I called for Thor only,” Loki says without looking away. Tilts his head. “You did take liberties, bringing these mortals.”

Captain Rogers picks up from Stark. “You didn’t invite Thor back for a birthday party.“

“Yet I can see why you did,” Loki continues. “Your friends are clever.” 

Thor finds words for that, at least. “Aye, they are. As clever as they are true.”

Loki pulls a face, clasps a hand to his heart, a mockery of hurt. Then sits - not on the throne, but at the top of the stairs, Gungnir slanted across his lap. He turns the spear slowly in his hand as he speaks. “I thought you would not like to miss your home being invaded.” He grins. “Again.“ And this is a different Loki - the strategist, considering his plan of attack. “You were not wrong, Thor. Asgard appears weak. And so Thanos is coming, in force.”

“What is a Thanos? I will have no games from you, Loki.”

“Loki is dead,” Loki says, sharp. “Try to remember. _Thanos_ is the lord of worlds beyond Yggdrasil. Come to take the Tesseract, and the prince of Asgard who failed to clear the way for him on Midgard.”

The captain interrupts again. “Another portal? Chitauri?”

“No portal. An armada.” He taps the spear lightly against a lower step. “It is likely that it left before I arrived on Midgard.” 

“Long run,” Rogers says. “One-way mission?”

Loki nods. “They intend to conquer. I have seen the lands where they dwell. Any of the nine realms would be an improvement.” 

“And you called them here,” Thor realizes.

“Why would I?” Loki says. “There was no need. Asgard protects the other realms; they must take it first. And all its defenses are in disarray from Malekeith’s attack.”

“And who but the king should have put them right!”

Steve Rogers rests a hand on his arm. “Intel now, smiting later,” Stark murmurs, and then steps forward. “How’s your offense?”

Loki’s smile widens. “Better.”

“What if we just go?” Steve asks. “You going to give us any problems over taking the Bifrost out?”

“Asgard can defeat Thanos alone.” Loki shrugs. “Go with my blessing, Captain. Take Thor’s lady, and your Widow, and the Hulk with you.”

“And Thor too.”

Loki meets his eyes again, and pauses a moment before agreeing. “Asgard does not lack warriors.”

“It lacks princes,” Thor says; he has already seen the trap. “It lacks a king. My friends, you are free to leave, but I must stay.”

“Ah. And now we are to brawl over the crown,” Loki speaks as though this were not what he had wanted all along. “Lose, and I’ll leave you in the dungeon until the battle is finished.”

“No.” Thor grits his teeth, but must go on. “Our king cannot disappear on the eve of battle.” He points to the throne. “You will stay there. You will do what I say. If I say nothing, you will do as my friends say. And when we have defeated this Thanos, then you are done here. Do you hear me, Loki Laufeyson?” 

“Do you remember,” Loki says, with laughter rising in his voice, “when you were to be king, and I your counselor?” But Thor cannot smile in return, and Loki’s amusement falls away. “I will hear your counsel, son of Odin, and that of the Avengers. What would you have me do?”

And Thor is tongue-tied again. He wishes Loki had died with honor; wishes Loki alive in some less damning way. 

Stark saves him again. “I want whatever you’ve got on this armada. A rundown of your pet projects. Any defense we can get online in a hurry?”

“None worthwhile.”

“It would give people something useful to do. Good for morale,” the Captain says.

“If you must. You interrupted a war council; call them back in, and have the rest of your answers.” He stands, and strikes Gungnir against the marble to summon the guard, then returns to the throne. Odin All-Father gives the order to begin rousing the people for the defense of Asgard, and sounds as though he has done this a dozen times. It could almost have been a dream.


	4. Chapter 4

Tony Stark gives Loki one of the Avengers’ communicators, so they can give orders from afar. Thor could have warned them not to give Loki a voice, but by the time he knows of it, it is too late.

Natasha Romanov and Bruce Banner return with, to Thor’s dismay, Darcy Lewis. “I did fine last time, right? Just give me something I can point and shoot.”

At least he and Jane had made an agreement regarding mortal peril, and she is safe again on Midgard. Thor gives the lady Miss Lewis a weapon that requires little strength or skill - from the brigands who overran Vanaheim, he remembers - and sets her to guard Loki. “You will hear what he should do - see that he does it. If he does not, raise the alarm and we will come.” If they can.

“Cool. He’ll be on the line too, right? So I’ll just say New Mexico if he goes wrong. Except he might get that?”

“I think he will forget you are there,” Thor tells her.

“Ouch? Okay, then good to go.” 

The first wave of Chitauri spreads wide; the Avengers and Asgard’s forces scatter to cover all the landing points. “I hate people who learn from their mistakes,” Stark complains.

Then the shield - that someone had been up all night repairing - flickers and falls as the first Chitauri troopship bears down on it. 

“I told you so.” Loki’s voice, more satisfied than he should sound, with the Chitauri over his head.

Thor grits his teeth. “How did you know they would break through so easily?” He has been trying not to respond to what Captain Rogers calls ‘chatter’. Darcy Lewis is no quieter than Clint Barton. And Loki, as he predicted, rarely shuts up and provokes everyone.

“I told them how,” Loki drawls.

“Like with floorplans and everything, huh.” Darcy Lewis says, which does not sound like a question.

“Everything I had -” now he sounds less pleased - “I gave them.”

“How’re you liking that deal now?” Stark asks.

There is an edge to Loki’s laugh. “I was nothing then, and now -” Something cuts Loki off and Thor, mid-battle himself, forgets to breathe. But his voice returns, strong and certain: “I have no regrets.”

“None? Because -”

Captain Rogers cuts in. “Chatter, people!” And they all have enough to do that it’s quiet on the line when Thanos makes his announcement, booming through the Chitauri leviathans themselves. They’ve got one down already, but probably most of Asgard can hear. The voice alone is terrible, a booming and scraping like nothing Thor has ever heard.

“Surrender now, Asgard, or you will suffer before you die. Your warriors will fall. Your walls will crumble. There is no escape. All your weaknesses are known. One of the sons of Odin, we have already broken to our will. He begged for death, and was not given that release. You may ask him of his shame, before you return him to --” 

The broadcast cuts out in a disturbing organic rumble. “Got the right wavelength,” Doctor Banner says. Loki had argued for posting him at the Bifrost, and been overruled - Doctor Banner remained in the palace with Jane’s and Stark’s equipment. Which left him near to Loki as well. “At least until they sort out the mixed messages. From the delay, it’s something like the game telephone.”

“So we can talk back?“

There’s a grin in Bruce’s voice. “Yep.”

“I will speak,” Loki says. “I have the right to respond to this insult.”

“You have the right. But you are King, and not Loki,” Thor reminds him.

“ _Duty_ , then. Let me speak.”

“The hallways do not sound clear,” Bruce says. “I’m staying here. I think I can loop the comm line in.”

“This is not really the most pressing problem,” Natasha adds. Of all of them, she is the least inclined to ‘chatter’.

“Morale is important,” Captain America says. “Do it. And everybody else _shut up_.”

Doctor Banner adds in the Chitauri leviathan party line.

“People of Asgard, you have heard Thanos - now hear your King. This is Thanos, who rules barron rocks in the dark below Ygdrassil. Thanos, who caught Loki Liesmith and let him go in return for promises. Thanos, whose army was destroyed by the Avengers on Midgard. Thanos, hear me - if it is Loki you want, his corpse lies in Swarttalfheim, and trouble the living realms no more. You cannot win against all the might of Asgard and the Avengers both. Stay, and be destroyed.”

Bruce Banner cuts the connection he’d made. 

“The ships are too far out,” Thor says. “They have learned, and keep themselves remote. We have no weapons to hit them at that range. Did you mean to give him Swartalheim?”

“He ought to take it. Had,” Loki says, sounding bored or weary. 

“What do you say now, liar?”

“We had no weapons. Let me show you, Thunderer, what I have given Asgard.”

“Do it,” Stark says, and the Captain agrees a minute later.

Thor can see the launch, and then nothing, and then a bright spiderweb-shattering against the void.

“That didn’t look nuclear,” Stark said. “No heat.”

“Magic.” Loki, smug.

“Two left,” Widow, out at the Bifrost with Heimdall, tells them. Another launch, and nothing. 

“They’re moving out of range.”

“Stop,” Thor says after the third. “Let them run, and tell the worlds of their defeat.”

“I do not think that is what they will do,” Loki says. “And Thanos lives.”

“It is done, Loki.”

“He will return. Are you giving up on Midgard so soon?”

“It is done. Give the word.”

“By your order, Thor Odinson.” He does not hear what Loki says in Odin’s voice, but turns his own attention to the soldiers nearest him.

“Hey guys? Avengers? New Mexico? - Is he supposed to be leaving? Because he just handed me his comm and he’s totally leaving.”


End file.
